Before the establishment of a nationally unified state by Emperor Qin Shihuang in 221 BCE, China had a long history of opposing kingdoms, self-governing territories and dynasties whose customs, beliefs and refined artisanship influenced the Qin dynasty and its creativity. Family prestige, social harmony and a belief in immortality and the afterlife were central to the creation of auspicious and ceremonial objects used for burial rituals, ancestor worship and encouraging good fortune. This gallery displays some of the most exquisitely crafted of these objects, produced from the beginning of the Zhou dynasty to the end of the Han dynasty (1046 BCE – 220 CE).

Jade was believed to possess magical powers that could maintain the human life force of air or breath after death, and beautifully carved jade objects would often accompany bodies in burial to help purify the deceased’s soul for its journey to the afterlife. Bronze objects with decorative motifs and inscriptions were created to represent a symbolic connection to China’s earliest dynasties and a ‘mandate from heaven’ to rule. Gold is thought to have been introduced to China from Central Asia and was mostly used for decoration on clasps, buckles and ceremonial objects.

The family of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang, claimed to be descendants of Zhuanxu, a grandson of the legendary ‘Yellow Emperor’ Huangdi, who purportedly reigned during the third millennium BCE. In reality, the Qin traced its origins to the west of Shaanxi province, north-west China and a family of semi-nomadic horse breeders that gained power during the eleventh century BCE. During the Spring and Autumn period (771–475 BCE) they consolidated their territories through diplomatic and military successes, then, during the turbulent Warring States period (475–221 BCE), one by one they conquered the six rival states of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi. This led to the Qin establishing China’s first unified kingdom in 221 BCE, stretching north to south from the Great Wall to the southern coast, and west to east from the grasslands of Gansu and Qinghai to the Pacific coast.

The first emperor’s grand vision for a powerful and eternal empire with him as its founding patriarch is brought to life in this gallery through beautifully decorated architectural fittings from Qin Shihuang’s opulent palaces; armour and weapons displaying military advancements; currency, weights and measures; and decorated ceramic and bronze items for ceremonial and everyday use.

The discovery of the terracotta warriors, one of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century, was made by chance. In March 1974, seeking water during a period of drought, local farmers began digging an irrigation well in Lintong district, Xi’an. Little more than a metre below ground, they unearthed fragments of the terracotta army, including a warrior’s head and a group of bronze arrowheads. Had the farmers commenced their digging a metre to the east, the warriors may have remained undetected.

The enormous tomb mound of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang, is located 1.5 kilometres from the terracotta warriors. While this has been the Qin emperor’s recognised tomb site over the centuries, astoundingly the creation of the warriors who guarded it was never recorded and knowledge of their existence was lost over time. It was recorded that the emperor employed and conscripted up to 700,000 workers to construct his mausoleum, the terracotta army and other buried items, making it the largest and most ambitious mausoleum construction in China’s history. To date, approximately 2000 of an estimated 8000 warriors have been excavated, and the pieces on display here represent the variety of individuals created, their positions within the army and their styles of apparel.

After the death of the first emperor, Qin Shihuang, the Qin dynasty rapidly declined and was defeated within three years by rebel leader Xiang Yu and former Qin officer Liu Bang, who became the first Han emperor, Gaozu. Recognising both the successes and failures of the Qin, the first Han emperors adopted similar burial practices and systems of centralised authority and civil standardisation as the Qin. Understanding that their success relied on positive public sentiment, the Han reduced taxes and assigned labour, moderated their scale of tomb construction and reduced the physical demands placed on civilians. These considerations led to the Han dynasty ruling for more than 400 years, from 207 BCE – 220 CE (with a brief interruption from 9–25 CE when the capital city was moved from Chang’an to Luoyang and the Eastern Han dynasty was renamed the Western Han dynasty).

Similar to the Qin, Han emperors created tombs consisting of a subterranean palace under a burial mound, adjoining model armies and attendants, and provisions for the afterlife. The two most important discoveries to date that remain as evidence of this practice were made at a site near the tomb of the first Han emperor Gaozu, at Yangjiawan, and at excavations adjacent to the tomb of the fourth Han emperor Jing, at Yangling. These two tombs’ very different styles of terracotta armies, animals and tomb figures date to approximately seventy years after the creation of Qin Shihuang’s original life-size terracotta army.

In this installation, an enormous flock of 10,000 porcelain starlings swarm overhead, teeming with might and momentum. The starlings are creating a murmuration, a mesmerising phenomenon beyond full scientific comprehension where communication between individual birds allows huge flocks to move in a fluid state of synchronicity. Regardless of the number of birds, starlings in murmuration are equally agile and responsive, together appearing to be one giant single organism during the advancement of a threat, or while seeking a roost.

The form of the flock resembles a three-dimensional shanshui landscape brush and ink painting, echoing the undulations of Mount Li. According to ancient Chinese philosophy and feng shui, Mount Li is an important meridian in the region, leading Qin Shihuang to select it as the auspicious location for his tomb and his vast terracotta army.

As do the warriors, this installation inspires awe, yet is intended as a place of quiet contemplation. The works were crafted in Dehua, adjacent to Cai’s hometown of Quanzhou, which has a centuries-old tradition of producing white porcelain. The colouration of the installation was achieved by exposing the birds to a gunpowder ignition.

Cai adds, ‘The ever-changing formation of 10,000 porcelain birds seems to embody the lingering spirits of the underground army, or perhaps the haunting shadow of China’s imperial past. But in this age of globalisation, aren’t they also forming a mirage, an exoticised imagination of the cultural other?’

Peonies in full bloom have been an important motif in Chinese art for centuries, frequently appearing in brush and ink paintings and works of porcelain. Captured at the peak of their beauty and perfection, they symbolise royalty, virtue, honour and wealth. The peony’s beauty is fleeting, however – the flower blossoms for little over a week before it begins to wilt.

This gallery features two works by Cai Guo-Qiang. The magnificent 360-degree gunpowder drawing, rendered on silk, captures the peony flower across the four stages of its life cycle: emergence of the bud, blooming, wilting and decay. Upon completing the work, the artist said, ‘I never thought I would be so moved by the decline of flowers; their withering is no less than the soul departing the body! Sometimes I wonder if life is merely an illusion, a dream, and that the soul actually manifests upon dying, which is the origin and the eternal state of things … Yet death is more elusive, more complex than that’.

The installation of a peony garden was crafted in Dehua in Fujian province, known for its centuries-old tradition of handcrafted white porcelain. Each petal and leaf is unique, and the installation has been exposed to an ignition of coloured gunpowder, resulting in a three-dimensional painting. The form echoes the undulations of Mount Li, the mountain adjacent to the site of Qin Shihuang’s tomb. The fragility of the porcelain conveys the ephemerality of the peony blossom, representing the fragility and transience of life, and alluding to the short-lived fourteen-year Qin empire.

‘If the peony is considered “the colour of the nation with a heavenly fragrance”, supreme beauty, Transience I (Peony) can be reckoned as a tomb for such beauty’, says Cai. ‘The porcelain went through extreme transformation, from the immaculately white to the sombrely black; the craft that made the white porcelain sculpture, through destruction and devastation, sublimates into art.’

Cypress trees have been known to live for centuries, remaining evergreen throughout the cold and dark of winter. Since the time of Confucius, during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE, the cypress has symbolised longevity, resilience and moral integrity in Chinese art and literature, and is often likened to a person of stoic character who remains steadfast and unyielding in the face of difficulty. In traditional Chinese painting, the composition and spatial arrangement of cypress and pine trees is believed to provide insight into the artist’s character.

According to legend, the cypress forest surrounding the mausoleum of the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) has endured since his death at the age of 113 during the middle of the third millennium BCE. Credited with aspiring to a centralised state and the advancement of innovations including traditional medicine, the lunar calendar and other important aspects of Chinese culture, the Yellow Emperor was idolised by later rulers. Qin Shihuang, China’s first unifying emperor and the creator of the terracotta warriors, claimed to be his descendant, taking part of his name (huang; yellow) to establish the legitimacy to conquer and rule his vast new empire.

The seemingly boundless landscape of this gunpowder drawing represents the vast mountains and horizons of China’s Central Plains. Located at the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Central Plains are considered by many to be the cradle of ancient Chinese civilisation and culture, and the centre of the world. The events and developments that took place in this region include the reign and philosophies of the legendary Yellow Emperor, the burgeoning of the theory of yin and yang, Laozi’s philosophy of Taoism, the unification of China under the first emperor Qin Shihuang, and the 400-year reign of the Han dynasty, which was instrumental in consolidating China’s unification.

From the centre of this monumental gunpowder drawing ignitions burst to the left and right, creating an energy that reflects the work’s Chinese title, Dimai, or ‘veins of the earth’. In feng shui, the ancient Chinese study of energy forces, geographical contours like ridges, valleys and rivers denote the Earth’s veins and the flow of qi, or life force. For millennia, this theory has influenced the selection of auspicious sites by those seeking to harness energy from the earth. Many significant locations, including Qin Shihuang’s tomb, the terracotta army and the Han dynasty emperor’s tombs, were strategically positioned along these meridians.